October 16, 2017 4:20 PM |
Anonymous

So many great reasons to attend CMTC this year! On Monday and Tuesday there will be sessions by David Loertscher, the "Learning Commons Guru" - these sessions will fill up quickly so register soon. The Keynote Speakers are Steve Dembo is a pioneer in the field of Educational Social Networking and Adam Bellow of Breakout EDU fame - they will both have a Keynote address and several sessions to attend. Thursday will be OUR day! We will start out recognizing our 2017 NHSLMA award winners and have a fabulous Lunch Session with Anita Cellucci presenting: THE EMPATHETIC LIBRARIAN: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY. There will be many great sessions to attend on Thursday, many presented by our wonderful New Hampshire librarians.

If you are looking to attend CMTC and need some assistance funding, please go to the NHSLMA website for more info or contact kabraham@laconiaschools.com. See you all in November!

1. It’s my professional community. Are you the only school librarian in your school? In your district? When you are in need of peers to discuss library ideas, issues, challenges, problems and solutions, the NHSLMA community is here for you, with a wealth of knowledge to share.

2. Members are the experts! Each and every member of NHSLMA has something to offer, whether it is a successful program they implemented, a new way of looking at the library environment, or maybe just a great lesson. NHSLMA provides multiple opportunities to share your own expertise as well as learn from other experts.

3. It’s my go to resource.The NHSLMA website has information about everything from learning opportunities, to advocacy, to connecting with librarians throughout the state. If I have a question about librarianship, this is where I start my research.

4. The AASL connection - NHSLMA is an affiliate of AASL, and we have representation at both AASL and ALA national conferences. Our representatives share the latest and greatest from AASL with our entire membership.

5. I love getting together with our membership. Our conference, Library Camp, and regional PD groups are alway fun gatherings where we learn from experts in our field and each other. These events are constantly evolving to meet the needs and desires of our current members.

Are you a member? Now’s the time to login and make sure your account is active and up to date. If not, become a member today!

Update your profile with a picture by the end of the month and be entered to win a $25 amazon gift card! Watch this video for a quick tutorial.

I hope your school year has gotten off to a great start! I’m excited to begin another year, not only as a school librarian, but as the president of NHSLMA. We have a terrific group of dedicated board members are looking forward to continuing to build upon the mission of our organization:

NHSLMA empowers librarians in New Hampshire schools to buildeffective school library programs.

The board alone can not carry forward this charge; our objective is to create a framework to provide members with opportunities to share and grow professionally. As your opening days settle into a daily routine, I hope you will consider participating in one or more ways:

Share or ask questions on Twitter with the#nhslmahashtag - include #tlchat to reach a wider audience. The feed will be curated by a different member each month so make sure you are a follower.

Let me know if you’d like to write a blog post on a topic and be profiled on the NHSLMA website. We hope to bring you at least two a month.

Update your contact information in the NHSLMA directory and include a picture.

Send an email to the listserv with something that worked well or a problem that's got you stumped.

Attend a board meeting held the third Thursday of every month 4:30 - 6:30, PSU campus, Concord, NH.

In other news...

Justine Thain and Audra Lewis will be representing NHSLMA at the November AASL conference and bringing back information about the revised standards.

Donna Zecha and I met with our new Commissioner of Education, Frank Edelblut in July. Our goal was to make sure Commissioner Edelblut knows we have a strong network of librarians throughout the state that are willing to be called upon to participate as needed. We were pleased to learn he is a strong supporter and understands the value of libraries.

Commissioner Edelblut, working with the NEA and other organizations, has also agreed to continue to fund educators access to EBSCO’s wealth of research resources to improve professional practice. Access information will be sent out through the listserv shortly.

And lastly, a very big thank you to our Library Camp organizers: Karen Abraham, Audra Lewis, Justine Thain and Etienne Vallée for a terrific day. I don’t think I have ever had more fun at a conference. If you didn’t make it, or want to refresh your memory, visit theLibrary Camp Websitefor resources.

If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to reach out to me at rachel.hopkins@nhsau57.org. I hope to see you soon at one of our many events. Best wishes for a terrific year.